Richard Gray : Commoner, Dartmoor
Who: Richard Gray
Where: Priddons Farm, Holne, Dartmoor
Common used for grazing: Holne Moor, and The Forest of Dartmoor
Animals: Swaledale sheep, and around 30 South Devon cows.
Unique Feature: Like all moors, Holne Common is a source of water for lower land; but here there is an old system of narrow water-courses, or leats, that deliver water to the village and farms below the moor. These have been renovated and are being cared for as part of the Upland Commons project.
“I feel it’s like my country. I feel like the little skylark that comes back here every year and nests. This is where he lives, this is where I live”
Richard runs Priddons Farm, which sits just below Holne Common, with his wife and his mother. Richard continues a long family tradition of farming in Holne parish, with rights to graze on Holne Common and The Forest of Dartmoor. He also works as a postman and he and Lisa have two shepherds huts that they rent out for short stays. Richard likens his sense of belonging here, particularly on the common, to the way the birds might feel: ‘I feel it's like my country. I feel like the little skylark that comes back here every year and nests. This is where he lives, this is where I live.’
Like each generation before him, Richard adapts his practices to suit the current time - what works for the family and what works for the landscape. His attention to rearing good livestock is twinned with a strong desire to support healthy landscapes with rich habitats for wildlife. The farm has its own land - roughly 50 acres - and rents another 100+ acres nearby. Swaledale sheep and South Devon cows graze on the commons in spring and summer - this takes the pressure off the lower land, which can be left for grasses and wildflowers and provides hay and silage for the winter.
Like many Dartmoor commons, Holne has archaeological remains, including a burial cairn around 4000 years old; ever since then, the land has been home to livestock, and managed by people. Once there were so many cattle here, people talked of the ‘red tide’ when cows were driven between the valleys and the common. Today, there are many fewer animals. The Grays are keen to keep a good balance between light grazing on the common, with sheep and cows being moved around to maintain open habitat for ground-nesting birds, and improved blanket bogs, increased scrub, and increased tree cover in the valleys. Richard is also involved in tree planting, keeps a record of temperature and rainfall every day, to support Met Office figures, and is Vice Chair for the Holne Commoners HLS (Higher Level Stewardship) Agreement.
Richard is concerned about polarisation of viewpoints not only in politics but also in opinions on landscape care. He watches keenly to see how the blanket bogs and vegetation change with different grazing patterns, what happens with meadows and trees on lower land, and how people talk and work together to find the best way forward. He’s an advocate for the middle ground. ‘The middle ground is the right place because you are conscientious and you listen to argument. You can accept something from one side and something from the other. It allows you to adjust.’ And he talks of the middle ground in upland farming as a place without pressure. ‘It's about taking the pressure off nature, working with nature - the best of both worlds.’
If you’d like to stay in one of the shepherd’s huts, take a look at the website here: www.holnemoorshepherdshuts.co.uk